Sure, incumbent U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, a Democrat, holds the seat and a massive money edge over Rehberg. But Cox and his libertarian politics could put the Democrat back in office for six more years.

Tester and his allies know it. Their anti-Rehberg messaging is aimed at blurring the distinctions between Rehberg and Tester, and driving libertarians toward Cox: If you want to limit the surveillance state, cut the national debt and deficit and curtail governmental intrusion into private lives, Tester’s logic goes, don’t vote for me — but don’t vote for Rehberg, either.

They’ve knocked the Republican congressman for supporting REAL ID, a national identification card program passed by Congress but soundly rejected by the states, and the Patriot Act, the national security law passed just 45 days after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

Additionally, they’ve hit Rehberg for voting to raise the debt ceiling – something Tester himself has done several times – and knocked House Resolution 1505, a measure Rehberg co-sponsors, as a federal land grab.

Forgive Montanans if they head to the polls Nov. 6 wearing tinfoil hats.

Rehberg’s people continually defends H.R. 1505 which gives the U.S. Department of Homeland Security supreme security authority over land within 100 miles of the country’s northern and southern borders. They say it’s simply a proposal to simplify the numerous overlapping jurisdictions responsible for border security.

In the 2006 race, as in this year’s contest, Tester painted the Republican – in this case Burns – as a Big Brother-lover. Tester promised to seek the Patriot Act’s death after Burns accused the Democrat of wanting to “weaken” the law.

Tester isn’t the only Montana senator to benefit from a third-party candidate.

In 1996, Rehberg, then an upstart GOP lieutenant governor, challenged Democratic U.S. Sen. Max Baucus. The ballot featured two other candidates – Reform Party’s Becky Shaw and Natural Law Party’s Stephen Heaton.

Shaw, a former Baucus aide who ran in a Democratic primary just two years before, was Rehberg’s spoiler. She took 20,000 votes, while Baucus downed Rehberg by about 19,000.

Dustin is a contributor to Watchdog.org and news director for IdahoReporter.com in Boise, Idaho. His work has been featured by Reason, Townhall.com, Fox News, the Washington Examiner, the Spokesman Review and Public Sector Inc., among others.
Steve Forbes also tweeted one of Dustin's stories one time.